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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28192143">Merry Christmas</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Traveller/pseuds/Fire_Traveller'>Fire_Traveller</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman &amp; Terry Pratchett</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Domestic Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Make the Yuletide Gay, Other, Our Side Yule prompts 2020, South Downs Cottage (Good Omens), They actually found the perfect present for each other, crowley doesn't like the cold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:20:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,651</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28192143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Traveller/pseuds/Fire_Traveller</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas Eve has come to the cottage in the South Downs and Aziraphale and Crowley spend a quiet evening together. When Christmas Day comes around, it's time to exchange presents. As it turns out, both have probably found the perfect present for each other...<br/>Just some shameless Christmas fluff, folks...<br/>Can't quite decide, I guess it fits both the 'Firelight' prompt and the 'An Intimate Moment' prompt...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aziraphale &amp; Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Make the Yuletide Gay 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Merry Christmas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Winter had come to the little cottage in the South Downs. Everything was decorated for the festive season, there were lights everywhere, lights illuminating the long, dark winter evenings. Finally, Christmas Eve came around and found an angel and a demon curled up together by the fireplace, wrapped in a warm, fluffy blanket and drinking hot cider. Aziraphale was reading E. T. A. Hoffmann’s <em>‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’</em> to Crowley, who was slumped against his side.</p><p>There was a Christmas tree as well, trimmed in a peculiar combination of two very different styles and ideas of home decoration, with the main colours being dark red and golden – one of the styles sleek, dark and elegant, the other light and warm and almost cluttering the tree with bits and bobs of various kinds, all lovingly collected specifically to adorn this tree. Underneath it, two presents were waiting to be unpacked the following morning. Aziraphale finished the book and took a look at his demon.</p><p>“Peculiar story”, was Crowley’s comment on what the angel had been reading to him, “I think I quite like it…”</p><p>Aziraphale smiled. “Well, so do I…You look a bit tired, though…What do you think? Should we go to bed?”</p><p>Crowley chuckled at that. “What, ya mean you stay awake and read all night while I…can use you as a heating pillow? Keep me warm?”</p><p>Aziraphale laughed and gave him a playful smack on the arm. He knew well enough that Crowley actually loved cuddling. So, a short while later, all the lights in the cottage magically switched off at the same time, except for the gentle glow of illuminated book pages in the bedroom upstairs.</p><p>Christmas Day found both angel and demon lazing about in their pyjamas – Crowley as usual in black silk, but with warm lining, Aziraphale in cream-coloured tartan. They’d had breakfast together, since Crowley definitely needed his coffee to start the day and Aziraphale usually insisted on having something to eat and a nice cup of tea. Now, after breakfast, the angel made his way into the living-room, with the demon sauntering in shortly after him. It was a cloudy and cold day, almost gloomy, but there was already a fire burning in the fireplace, sending warmth and a soft light through the whole room and, in fact, warming up the whole cottage.</p><p>The Christmas tree filled the living-room with warm light and the pleasant scent of forest. The presents underneath had been ignored by both inhabitants of the cottage until now, both of them secretly struggling to keep their excitement at bay. Excitement not only about the present they were about to receive, but rather more about the one they wanted to give to each other respectively and the reactions their present might elicit. Now, there was no holding back any longer – both angel and demon marched straight to the tree, each of them reaching out for the present they’d meant to give to the other.</p><p>Crowley was quicker and handed his present to Aziraphale while accepting his own from the angel. “Merry Christmas, Angel”, he said with a lopsided grin, “Go on, open it.”</p><p>Aziraphale made a noise somewhere between a slight huff and a laugh, but he smiled and they both simply sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace. The angel began to carefully unwrap the present – so carefully, in fact, that Crowley began to nervously drum his fingers on the carpet. He wouldn’t open his own present before Aziraphale had unwrapped his and Crowley had seen his reaction.</p><p>The reaction the demon had been waiting for came promptly. The angel’s eyes widened, he inhaled sharply, stared for a moment at the cover of the book he was now holding, and then he began to smile. A smile that could have lit up even the darkest rooms and that would never fail to make Crowley’s heart flutter. “Oh…oh Crowley…” was the first thing Aziraphale actually managed to say. He was holding a manuscript of Chaucer’s <em>‘Canterbury Tales’</em> in his hands in – for its age – pristine condition. A manuscript he’d been after for quite a while. His hands caressed the antique cover gently and he looked up at Crowley in astonishment. The manuscript had been up for auction a few months ago and Aziraphale had gone out of his way and bid a considerable sum for it, while, at the same time, trying his best at convincing everyone that this little treasure would be in best hands in his own book collection.</p><p>And then someone had snatched it away from him at the very last moment, some unknown “collector” of sorts who’d bid a fortune for it. Aziraphale still remembered how distraught he’d been after losing the auction despite the miracles he’d used. Now he began to understand why and how he’d lost. “Crowley…did…did <em>you</em>…?”, he began to stammer.</p><p>“Snatch that book from you to give it to you today? Nh…yeah…might have…”, the demon admitted with a shy grin, “Hope you’re not mad at me…?”</p><p>Aziraphale looked up at him in surprise. “Mad? Oh, my dear, why would I be mad? You…oh, this is wonderful! Just wonderful! Marvellous! Thank you, dear! Oh, thank you so much!” Somewhat teary-eyed, the angel pulled his demon into a tight embrace and Crowley sighed in relief.</p><p>“Now it’s about time you open yours”, Aziraphale finally said when he’d let go of Crowley and nodded towards the present the demon was still holding in his hands, the present Aziraphale had given him. “I do hope you like it…”, the angel added, sounding somewhat apprehensive.</p><p>“Sure will”, Crowley muttered, quirking an eyebrow and looking at the present in his hands for a moment. He shrugged and began to simply tear it open. Out fell something in deep red, made of finest, soft wool. It was…knitted, apparently. And long. Very long. The demon cocked his head and picked the piece of fabric up, slowly realising what it was he was holding: A scarf. It was…incredibly soft and dimly reminded him of the soft, white down feathers of Aziraphale’s wings. It had a slight pattern to it, but it definitely wasn’t tartan. And…the wool felt miraculously warm to the touch. He ran his hand over it for a moment, until he reached one of its ends and realised something.</p><p>“It’s…a scarf…but…like…like a tube?” Crowley frowned slightly, pushing his arm into the hole, and when he looked up at Aziraphale, he saw that the angel was blushing. It was only now that he remembered all those instances over the last few weeks, nay, months when the angel had behaved oddly secretive, hiding away in his reading room for hours on end. “You <em>made</em> this? For…for me?”</p><p>Aziraphale nodded. “I…I used a few minor miracles. To make it extra soft and…well, and it will always be warm. I know you’re not particularly fond of the cold season, so…I thought…But…you don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it, it’s fine…”</p><p>Crowley looked back at the scarf, an odd lump forming in his throat. He didn’t know what to say.</p><p>“Wh-why…why a tube, though…?”, he finally muttered, more to himself than to Aziraphale.</p><p>The angel heard him anyway and began to explain: “Well…as I said, I know you don’t like the cold…and…I…I just thought, this way you could…wear it as a normal scarf or…use it in your snake shape, too…You could just…slither through it, you know…”</p><p>Crowley’s eyebrows rose up. “Slither through? As a snake?”, he mumbled.</p><p>The angel sighed. “Oh…I…I guess it was a foolish idea. I’m sorry. As I said, you don’t have to…if…if you don’t like it…”</p><p>“Don’t like it?”, Crowley interrupted him, sounding somewhat hoarse, “Angel…ngh…n-no…no, I…I don’t <em>like</em> it. I love it, actually. I…” He swallowed and found that he needed to blink because his vision was becoming somewhat blurry. “You…really made this…all by yourself? F-for me? I…Nobody has ever created anything for me…A-and…it’s so thoughtful of you, making sure I could even use it as a serpent…Now I feel quite foolish for what I got you…Falls rather short in comparison to…to this…This is so…personal…” He choked, trying very hard not to start crying.</p><p>Aziraphale stared at the demon and finally interpreted his reaction correctly. “Oh, Crowley…Your present is wonderful! No, it doesn’t fall short, not at all. And it’s very thoughtful and personal as well. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been searching for this specific book? It must have been so difficult for you to obtain it and snatch it away right under my very nose, without me noticing…And…well…if you like the scarf, then…well, then I guess we both came up with the right present for each other after all. Hm?”</p><p>Crowley looked up at him, smiling and just as teary-eyed as Aziraphale himself was. Neither of them was sure afterwards who’d moved first, but the next thing both of them were aware of was that they were in each other’s arms, still on the floor.</p><p>“Thanks for this, Angel”, Crowley muttered, still holding onto the scarf as well.</p><p>Aziraphale smiled beatifically. “It was a pleasure making this for you. I wasn’t quite sure if you’d like it, but…I’m glad you do…”</p><p>“Don’t like it. Told you”, Crowley protested weakly.</p><p>The angel chuckled. “Merry Christmas, Crowley”, he said. The firelight reflected on Crowley’s hair, setting it aflame, while Aziraphale’s own light blonde curls seemed to glow in it like a soft halo. Outside, snow began to drift slowly from the dark clouds, dusting the cottage and its surroundings in a feathery blanket of white.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Merry Christmas everyone! Or whatever you wish to celebrate...Stay safe, my best wishes to all of you! Hope you enjoy this!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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